my cat has fleas, help!?

Question

ok, so i always try to search other questions b4 i ask one but i didnt do so well this time. im trying to figure out if my cat has fleas, its very odd beacuse my cat seems to be only infested on her lower back above her tail. i thought there were a swarm of them tho bacuse of all the black specs. someone said the black specs are flea poop? correct? i dunno, i saw all the flea poop all over and then i saw this brown looking small worm on her skin that ran off in her fur, im not familiar with ticks, but i thought they latched on, he was running......i need to know what my cat seems to have, and how to rid her and the other two cats of it. i just applied hartz flea and larvee drops to their necks and bit on the ones lower back.......i want to get rid of the "poop" though for her, someone suggested dawn dish soap to clean them with, is that ok for them? and if i do that ill be washing all the hart flea stuff off, shuld i buy more and get the 3 in 1 for fleas, ticks, and larvee?

Answer 1

Any good pet shop can help you with that, they have the latest and the best, trust me.♦

Answer 2

Dawn dishwashing liquid works well as cat flea shampoo and is safe for kittens 8 weeks or older. I wouldn't vouch for Hartz. Generally, most people swear by either Advantage or Frontline. Some fleas are controlled by one, others by the other product. The drops are better than the collars, but need to be applied correctly ( all the drops onto the skin when the hair is parted, on the back of the neck to the lower back of the head - make sure it is not in a place where your cat can lick it off.)
Get a flea comb (the colored plastic ones cost only about a dollar or two), have a lint roller ready. Put your cat on a table and gently comb front to back, or in the direction of the growth of the hair. When a flea jumps out or into the comb, quickly as possible stick it to your lint roller paper. Then cut off the flea's head before he becomes unstuck. Dispose of all the used up roller sticky papers inot sealed ziplock bags. Do this at least twice a day on every cat until you have no more fleas - even if your cat has had a bath.
Those little black spots can be flea poop, flea eggs or dried up cat blood pooped out of the flea.
Wash all the cat's bedding and put it through the hot dryer.
If you continue to have fleas, you're going to have to develop a much more comprehensive program for getting rid of the fleas in your home.

Answer 3

The black specks are called flea dirt and yes that is poop. The "worm" that you saw running on your cat was probably a flea. You can't always see their legs and ticks do not run. They move very slowly. I would recommend Advantage or Frontline for your cats. Do not bathe them in Dawn dish soap. It is ok for certain situations, but as a rule, you should use a shampoo that is specifically for cats so that it is pH balanced for their skin. Also you should not bathe your cats 2 days before or 2 days after applying Advantage or Frontline. The products need the oils from the skin to work correctly. Also, since your cats have fleas, they are very likely to have tapeworms, so it's something you should keep an eye out for and if you see little rice segments in their poop or little short flat worms crawling around their anus you should contact your veterinarian for a tapeworm injection.

Answer 4

Id wash the Hartz off period.
Advantage and Frontline, while a bit more expensive, are extremely effective and a LOT more safe.
Hartz is like putting a pesticide on your pets.
Advantage and Frontline are medications.

http://www.hartzvictims.org/index.php

Ive seen firsthand atthe animal hospital I have worked at the effects of Hartz, Biospot and other "generic" type forms of flea killers. Seizures, animals in shock, and at the very least, irritated skin where it has been applied. NOT good stuff at ALL.

ANY bath will help with the poo, dont be scared if it coms out looking like blood...it actually is the dried blood meals the fleas defecate.

If you dont know what insects are on the kitty, get an exam at the vet to make sure, or else you maay be wasting your money buying the wrong treatments.

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PS. for some of the "ansering" folks here...

FLEA COLLARS will not help, unless you have fleas that stay by the neck and head of the pet...which is impossible. There is nothing magical about flea collars other than being pesticide laced collars that only work on the area closest to them.

ONLY use cat specific shampoos on a cat. Dog label medicated shampoos can at the very least irritate a cat's system...if it doesn't KILL them.

ALSO, Frontline and Advantage do NOT enter the *blood* of any animal, just the layers of oils that float across the skin of the animal. I really wish people who knew nothing about what they are saying would stop posting such idiotic responses. One of these days, one of those folks is going to get an animal killed by their moronic, ignorant answers.

Answer 5

Brown looking worm? Ticks are round and bury their head into the flesh of the host they are on to feed so they don't run away. If you seen a worm moving, your cat really needs to see a vet now. It could the the area at the tail has an infection and other parasites (i.e. this worm) have been drawn to the wound/infection. Black specs *can* be flea feces but sometimes it can be a scab that is breaking apart from being picked at, dirt, etc. It's good to treat for fleas anytime they are suspected, as long as it's not too close to another dose already given, but I would take the cat to the vet to ensure there isn't some other parasite you're unaware of. Good luck!

Answer 6

Washing your cat won't wash the flea medicine away, it absorbs into their blood, hence it being effective for up to 30 days. You should NEVER use Hartz on your pets, there are chemicals in it that react badly with some cats and can be fatal. And your friend is right, the black specks are flea poop, a regular bath and a good flea combing will take care of that. Go to your vet for flea medication or even Petco, just don't use Hartz.

Answer 7

Bath them with proper shampoo for cats...dishwashing liquid will hurt ther skin. A flea comb helps get the poo out, and i definatly suggest the 3-in-1 thing. The running worm thing sound more like a flea than a tick..but it's not really a worm, if it persists, the best thing to do is to take them to the vet

Answer 8

Honey you need to go to the vet and get some real flea meds. The over the counter stuff doesn't work very well at all. Especially if she is infested with them. They are usually thicker at the tail and the back of the animal. You might ask the vet for some frontline or another good one for cats only though. If you get the one for dogs you could lose your cat. They mixed mine up once and they gave the dog the cat meds and he got very sick.I had to give him a very thorough bath and repeat it several times or the dog would have died. Good luck with your cat. They are so precious we need to take good care of them.

Answer 9

Take the cat to a vet because fleas spread very fast and you seem to have a bad case of them on your hands! If you have any other animals keep them away from the cat, and try not to wash the cat with dish soap!

Answer 10

Advantage is a once a month topical flea treatment for cats and kittens over 8 weeks. This product kills 98-100% of the fleas on cats. We use it and have NO flea problems

Answer 11

I suggest you take him/them to your local vet after cleaning her with some sort of disinfectant soap. Also clean off all your bed sheets and clothing you might have come in contact with her. If you get rid of the flees on them it's pointless if you have fleas everywhere else. This might become a serious issue if not handled properly. Depending on how long this has happened you might need to spray the house down. Good luck <3